doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shipping Guns ???

While the post office has its advantages. Their speed with registered packages is not one of them. Waiting for them to deliver as you watch your package bounce around has been a maddening experience for me.

To the OP,

The only thing additional I would suggest (for the future, as you've already shipped) is that you verify the validity of the FFL before shipping. You want to know that (A) they ARE legitimately an FFL, and just as importantly... (B) that their license is CURRENT.

Go to Google and search "ATF FFL check" and you will find an ATF site which allows you to enter only the first 5 and last 5 digits of their license number (some are squirrelly about giving out their full number). The site then verifies their GOOD TIL date on their current license, the business name, and address.

This way there's no way you can be culpible for shipping a gun to a non-FFL who simply CLAIMS they are.

Just a little bit of CYA. What ever happens with the gun after you ship it is none of your concern. And if the FFL balks at giving you their first and last 5 digits, tell the buyer they need to find a different FFL to receive.

In this way YOU can never be on the hook for something bad happening downstream with what you THOUGHT was a gun you legally sold.

Nudge

It's a minor quibble, but it's FIRST THREE and LAST FIVE.

Oops, you're correct, first 3 and last 5.

Nudge

Here we go again with another multiple page thread on shipping guns.

To summarize, all carrier options are bad and any given person will have horror stories about each one. It is just a matter of which one has not pissed you off lately.

There is nothing privileged about FFL information. Every current license is listed at the BATF site. If one gets pissy about providing a copy of their license screw them and just find another. They abound.

TabA / SlotB

Hahaha! So true.

We have short memories....we are pissed at the service provider/retailer who most recently annoyed us. Just pick someone else and the odds will be in your favour. (Would be anyway if you picked the guy who just pissed you off....it's a crap shoot)

The only time I used FEDEX was when a manufacturer (Charter Arms) once sent me a pre-paid shipping label to return the gun to the factory under warranty repair.

I also use USPS Priority Mail, as there's no reason to lie about the parcel's contents - and EVERYBODY who handles the parcel during it's processing from here to there has to sign for it (making the parcel traceable).


Postal Service personnel may not open mail sealed against inspection except under the circumstances described in ASM 274 (google).

By those USPS Regulations, US Postal Clerks are required to ask only a few specific questions about the mailability of a parcel's contents, like:

�Does this parcel contain anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous, including lithium batteries and perfume ? �

I ALWAYS answer "fragile", and have already so marked the parcel on all sides/ends.

Since many long guns also have a relatively heavy, narrow end (barrel/muzzle), besides wrapping securely, I usually re-inforce both carton ends (inside) with a thin (1/4") plywood layer, cut to fit, to prevent the barrel end from breaking through the cardboard packaging.


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Packing guns well often can significantly reduce the risk.

I use 3" PVC pipe, cut to correct length (the length being the inside length, end to end, of the box you are using), to hold the barrels and pack that tube inside the cardboard box. The rigidity of the tube not only protects the barrels but provided for significantly greater rigidity for the whole package.

Each component is wrapped first in cloth, then in bubble wrap and any voids in the box are filled with Styrofoam packing peanuts. The whole thing is very tightly packed ensuring to movement inside the box and the box itself is very rigid.

"I also use USPS Priority Mail...


Postal Service personnel may not open mail sealed against inspection except under the circumstances described in ASM 274 (google).

By those USPS Regulations, US Postal Clerks are required to ask only a few specific questions about the mailability of a parcel's contents, "
I believe you have to use "registered" priority mail in order to get the signoffs etc. Costs more but worth it for high value items.
"Registered mail is the Postal Service's most secure form of mail delivery, involving an unbroken chain of custody. Registered mail is protected in sealed containers, safes and cages, and held under lock and key. This extra level of security can cause delays and may require up to 14 days for delivery. Choose registered mail when the contents of the mail require additional security and time is not a factor."